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By Helena San Roque
Nearly a year after the incident Los Angeles Police Commission found that officers who shot and killed Yong Yang, a 40-year-old Korean American with bipolar schizoaffective disorder, had properly followed police procedure, and the City of Los Angeles has issued no formal discipline against the officers involved.
The family of Yong Yang will hold a vigil in remembrance of their son on Saturday, May 2, in Los Angeles, the second anniversary of his death.
On that day in 2024, Yong Yang underwent a mental health crisis in his parents’ Koreatown apartment in Los Angeles. Initially, his mother, Myung Sook Yang, called the Department of Mental Health (DMH) for assistance. The DMH then sent clinician Soo Tae Yoon to talk to Yang. Shortly, Yoon called 911, claiming that Yang had been “very violent” and had “tried to attack me and the father.” When police came to the Yangs’ home, Dr. Min Yang told Officer Andres Lopez his son needed “to go to the hospital.”
Moments after warning him to drop the blade, Officer Lopez shot Yang twice in the chest and once in the stomach. Afterwards, separate body camera footage showed officers putting handcuffs on Yang, patting down his clothing, lifting his shirt and applying pressure to his wounds. About 14 minutes later, paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Officers later interviewed them at Olympic Station about the incident and were sent home after.
One day after , the LAPD published a statement on the incident. On May 16th 2024, the LAPD posted a video on Youtube in response to the incident. In the message, Captain Kelly Muniz said that “ … When the officers opened the door they observed Yang with a large kitchen knife. Officers gave Yang commands to drop the knife. However, he did not comply with the officers’ demands and continued advancing towards them, resulting in an officer involved shooting…Los Angeles Fire Department Paramedics responded shortly thereafter and after attempting life saving efforts, pronounced Yang deceased at scene.”
At the time, Captain Muniz said that an internal investigation of the incident would occur in “the next several months.” Then, the Criminal Incident Review Division would forward findings to the Chief of Police, who would then send his recommendations to the Police Commission —who would then determine if the officers’ tactics, drawing and exhibiting a weapon and use of deadly force “met the high standards expected of all police officers.”
Meanwhile, in Sept. 2024, the Yang family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the LAPD, City of LA and the officers involved in the incident. The lawsuit carries allegations of civil disputes, including assault, battery, two counts of negligence and violation of the Bane Act —a state civil rights law that prohibits law enforcement from using threats, intimidation, or coercion to violate a person’s constitutional rights.
Dr. Yang said that between the time police interviewed him following his son’s death and the April 8, 2025, Police Commission Board Meeting, he received no direct communication from the City of Los Angeles or the LAPD — only a letter from the District Attorney’s Office offering condolences. AsAmNews reached out to the City of Los Angeles and the LAPD for comment but had not received a response as of publication.
“No one showed up to the funeral,” said Dr. Yang to AsAmNews.. “It’s like one day they show up and kill my son, and then shut up as if there’s nothing between them and me.” Dr. Yang said.
Dr. Yang stated that he only became aware of the LAPD Board of Police Commissioners meeting upon reviewing various public comment agendas, where he discovered his son’s name listed. The Board of Commissioners acts as an overseeing body over the police department.
“That is the day when they make a decision on if police officers have done the actions within the policy or not.” Dr. Yang said. “When they made their decision that day, they didn’t even let us know if that was the day they were going to do it or not.”
On April 8, 2025, Both parents addressed the Los Angeles Police Commission during public comment during that meeting, with Dr. Yang asking the Board to “ensure the officers are held accountable.” The commission voted that officers directly involved undergo a tactical debrief — a formal evaluation designed to assess the effectiveness of an officer’s actions and identify areas for improvement. The board issued an “administrative disapproval” of the tactics used in the moments leading up to the shooting.The board, however, found the drawing and exhibition of a weapon and the “lethal use of force” against Yong Yang to be within policy.
“I looked at every single commissioner, the police chief and inspector general, but they just decided that way anyway.” Dr. Yang said.
In Jan. 2026, Yang’s family also filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. Central District Court, alleging constitutional violations of their son’s rights , including claims of unlawful entry, unlawful detention and arrest, excessive force, denial of medical care and interference of a familial relationship.
With these two lawsuits, Dr. Yang outlined his main goals “finding justice “ and receiving an apology from the officers involved or the police department. He also wants policy changes to prevent this from happening again and for the officers to be punished in criminal court.
Officers facing excessive force allegations are often shielded from civil liability under a legal doctrine known as qualified immunity. In a notable 2019 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit found that a Coffee County, Georgia, deputy sheriff could not be sued after accidentally shooting a 10-year-old child in the knee while attempting to shoot the family’s dog. The attorney for Yong Yang’s case, Dale Galipo, who specializes in police misconduct, indicated application of qualified immunity to this situation is unlikely.
“I don’t think it will be successful in this case,” said Atty. Galipo in an interview with AsAmNews. He further clarified that qualified immunity does not apply to state lawsuits nor does it apply to the Monell and Disability Act claims within a federal lawsuit — which are both included in Yang’s federal lawsuit.
“This was not a robbery of Bank of America.” Galipo said. “In my opinion, at most, a taser should have been used.”
For both Dr. Yang and Galipo, the case extends beyond a single incident. Galipo said he intends to review LAPD shootings over the past decade to examine whether “the patterns reflect a systemic problem” within the department.
“ Not only do we want to get justice for his son,” Galipo said. “But to make sure this doesn’t happen to others.”
Currently, Galipo’s firm is in the process of interviewing those involved in the case, including the police officers, and is seeing if the two lawsuits can be consolidated into one, which streamlines the legal process. The trial for the state lawsuit is set for Oct. 13 2026.
As the legal process moves forward, Dr. Yang, spoke about what he hopes the case will achieve. While the civil lawsuit offers one avenue for accountability, Dr. Yang noted its limitations in delivering the outcome he is seeking.
“…Civil lawsuits only can give us financial compensation.” Said Dr. Yang. “Even though the most important thing for me is reviving my son—and that’s impossible.”
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit Asian American Media Inc and supported by our readers along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AARP, The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, The Asian American Foundation & Koo and Patricia Yuen of the Yuen Foundation.
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